Tensile Involvement
by JoMarchWrites
Summary: Lies can strain a relationship. So can brutal honesty. When tensions rise and people become far too honest with their feelings, things that are not meant are said. Some can never be taken back, others are never heard. During a stakeout, two stubborn detectives discover the truth during a fight they truly needed to have. (One-chapter story. Rating denotes strong language.)


_**A relationship without fights is not an honest one.**_

_**Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. No harm or malice is intended in using the characters, settings, and plotline for fictional work. **_

"I'm not sure where that smell is coming from," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Us or the car."

He sniffed, making a face. "I think it's both," he spat, clearing his throat. "I need a shower, I know that."

"Three days," she complained. "Three days alone in this stupid car, he hasn't come out of that fucking building in three fucking days." She ran her sticky hands through her greasy hair. "I dunno, maybe he's dead."

"Seriously, Liv?" he inquired. He scoffed and shook his head, then turned back to look out the window. "He's not dead, he's hiding from the cops! You know this never ends quickly. Why don't you...I dunno...take a nap or something?"

"A nap," she balked. "Are you...are you fucking kidding me?"

"What'd I say?" he asked, honestly curious.

She smirked and stared in disbelief. "Take. A. Nap?" Her words were slow, punctuated with exhaustion, irritation, and frustration.

"I didn't mean it like that, Liv, I just…"

"Three fucking days and nights in this beat up old junker, with you," she sneered. "Putting up with your endless stories about your fights with Kathy and whining about your perfect kids, and I'm over here trying to get a twenty on the perp, who obviously hasn't moved a fucking muscle in seventy-two fucking hours, and you want me to take...a...nap?"

"How," he paused, baffled. "How the hell was that offensive? All I was saying was if you're tired, take a nap! We've been up for half a fucking week and he hasn't made a move, so take a fucking nap!" He shifted in his seat. "And if you thought I was whining, Miss Priss, you should have told me to shut the hell up!"

She pursed her lips and shook her head, her blood pressure rising. "Priss? You prick! You know...why are you even still fucking married to her? You have to know by now that she lied to you about Eli, am I right? You are a fucking glutton for fucking punishment if you can stand to raise another man's kid."

"Bitch," he breathed, a half-hearted smirk on his face. "Fuck's sake, Liv, you know I filed for divorce, she just has a lot to work out with the lawyer before she'll sign the papers! And at least I actually do have my own kids to raise, Olivia, I don't have to step in when junkies and hookers abandon theirs."

The hurt in her eyes was battling the anger for dominance. "That was low, Stabler, even for you," she said through clenched teeth. "You...God, you know you're just gonna crawl back to her like you always do!" She threw her hands up in the air, "But let's figure out which slut you'll suck face with before you do, this time, huh?" She pretended to think. "Hmm, Casey?"

"Look, Liv, this is...is this about what happened with Dani?"

"No, Casey has too many standards." She raised both eyebrows. "That girl from Immigration!" Her face screwed up and she said, mockingly, "I was surprised I hadn't from you' like she was your first choice? Really, Elliot?" She hummed, then said, "No, that was too long ago, she's probably married by now."

Elliot let out a low growl. "Enough, Liv, I get it," he said. "You wanna berate me about my taste in women? Can we run your track record? Serial rapist, rogue reporter, psycho, gay man, gay lawyer, another gay lawyer, a fucking asshole FBI agent, Brian 'The Wuss' Cassidy, the guy who could never even remember your name...you're still alone, Liv! You can't find a decent guy who'll stick around longer than a month, and I'm the one with the relationship problems?"

"Fuck you, you son of a bitch," she yelled, shuffling around the floor of the car.

"You started this bullshit, Olivia!" he retaliated. "You wanna tell me what's really going on here?"

She found what she was looking for and threw it at him. "Fuck you," she yelled again. "You didn't think I'd find out? We share a desk, asshole! If you put something in the wrong drawer…"

"Woah, Liv, okay…" he unfolded the plane tickets she'd tossed over to him and sighed, defeated. "No, can we not…"

"You left her once, then it was Dani Fucking Beck," she shook her head, the tears in her red eyes ready to fall. "You leave her now and we still…" she growled in a frustrated manned and pounded her fists on the dashboard. "Are we thirteen fucking years old? Christ, Elliot, what the fucking fuck have we been doing for the last ten years?" She punched him in the arm. "I have the world's worst dating history because I keep hoping...because I am the fucking queen of the fucking morons...that one of them will be the one that scares your ass into making a God damned move!"

"Liv," he gasped, "Back the hell up! Are you listening to yourself?"

She shook her head violently and again moved her oily locks behind her ears. "When is it gonna be enough, huh? Gitano didn't prove it? I transferred hoping you'd have the fucking balls to admit what the hell that all meant, because God knows we can't fucking work together if anything…"

"Slow the fuck down!" he fumed. "I'm still on the part where you said…"

She laughed, but there was no humor anywhere in her features. "And then...fucking...Dani Beck, Elliot? You knew her, what, three days?"

"You had one fucking date with Mike Whatshisname before you were in bed with him so don't even…"

"You. Were. Married!" she brandished her arms in the air. "Just fucking tell me now, Elliot, before I waste one more fucking second of my life on a delusional fantasy because I made the tragic mistake of falling in love with you, is this ever going to be anything more than just a work thing?"

He stilled. He was silent. He gritted his teeth and tried to remember the situation they were in, how tired they were, and how frustrated. "If you honestly think that's all this has been for me for the last decade, then get the fuck out of this car, Liv." He spoke to her the way he would to one of their suspects. "It was Beck...because...one, she didn't matter to me and if I fucked it up I could live with myself. Two, no way in hell was I going to take a chance of fucking anything up with you, especially since you were the one convincing me to go back home. And three, I was fucking shitfaced, Olivia, drunk off my ass, and it was one fucking kiss, for the millionth time, I didn't sleep with her!"

She scoffed. "I was only convincing you to go back to Kathy because…"

"You wanted me to tell you I didn't want to? You...what...you thought I'd tell you I was leaving her for good because I was in love with you and throw you over the table?"

"Oh, don't fucking flatter yourself," she denied, but he was right. That's what she'd wanted.

"I was going to," he said, but it came out hateful. "You opened your piehole and told me to go home to my wife, and it felt like you ripped my heart out, Liv. I thought you were telling me you didn't want me!" He hit the steering wheel in front of him. "Fucking Christ, we are fucking idiots. You...you, Olivia Benson, are a fucking idiot."

She raised her right eyebrow.

He threw the plane tickets back at her, one flapping against her face before falling into her lap. "Read the fucking names on the fucking tickets." He was huffing, his nostrils flaring. "And if you ever even suggest the idea of me doing anything that remotely resembles dating Novak again, I don't care if you're a woman, I will kick you in the balls."

She tried not to laugh, she was still pissed off and incredibly hurt. Her trembling fingers lifted the blue and white papers out of her lap, and she opened each slender folder. "Oh," she almost whispered. His name was on one ticket. Hers on the other. "Oh, my God...El, I…"

"Liv," he laughed, closing his eyes for a second. He inhaled deeply as he opened them, apologies and ways to make it all up to her swimming in his head. "Now, would you please. Take a fucking nap."

_**As always, your reviews are much appreciated. **_

_**Peace and Love**_

_**Jo**_


End file.
